It is a well documented fact over the last five years that the average
RPGamer, those who enjoy Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Lunar,
Xenosaga, etc. do not tend to enjoy the Massively Multiplayer Online
RPG experience. How can you call something an RPG when the story is
minimal and most of the game is aimed at building up your character
with very few other goals? How can you stand not getting to see
everything in thirty hours of playing? How can you be so patient,
when it takes at least ten times as long to gain a level? How can you
stand not having an ending? These are all valid questions, and the
answer is even harder to comprehend: that's the point.

If you think about a traditional RPG, everything revolves around the
sole player. The storyline is written so that the player's party is
the main focus or at least one of the major focuses of the game. You
play a major role in the game, and usually end the conflict that is
causing the game's overall scenario in the first place. Nothing
happens without you.

That brings up another point. The player controls the pace. If the
player does not trigger the next event, it does not happen. If the
player stops playing, nothing happens at all. The player has nearly
full control over the pace of the average RPG. Control is a major
part of the traditional RPG experience.

Playing an MMORPG is giving up full control and the limelight. You
are no longer automatically the center of attention. You have almost
no control over the storyline, and in many cases are not even directly
affected by it. You cannot stop the game. You are merely a foot
soldier, someone at random. Even an NPC in a traditional RPG has a
better chance at playing a role in the storyline.

So why are so many people flocking to these games? Well, first of
all, a lot of these people do not want to automatically be the center
of attention. There is a sense of fantastic realism to online RPGs.
You still get the role of doing things you could not do in real life,
such as slay goblins or shoot down enemy starships, but not everyone
can be a hero. The characters you play are much more generic, and by
having them that way, a player can plug in his or her own personality,
whether it is a direct representation of himself or herself, or a
facsimile that he or she chooses to play. Sure, these characters may
never have a bearing on the overall storyline an online RPG has, if it
has one, but the player has something a traditional RPGamer pretty
much never has: full control over their own character.

Another part of playing MMORPGs is being able to feel like you actually
earned something. Any prestige that you have, or any part that you
play, even minor, to the storyline, is not something that was meant to
be. It happened because you were in the right place at the right time
and you delivered. Things that happen in these games are not
scripted. When you do something that has a lasting effect, people
know you did it. Sure, it doesn't happen often, but as long as the
chance is there, a lot of players are willing to do anything they can
to get themselves ready. The promise of MMO fame and prestige is
appealing to many gamers.

When you put these two factors in with numerous other little factors,
you can understand the experience that an MMO-RPGamer is aiming for.
They want to create not just a character, but a living personality
whom people know and either like or dislike. They want to work
towards making that character powerful so they can accomplish more.
They want to be apart of something with other people, and when they
accomplish something, they'll know that they did it because they
tried, not because it was part of a storyline. They want to know that
when they kept on playing and kept on going, that very little was just
given to them. They earned it.

Honestly, I'm not aiming to turn anyone on to MMORPGs. One of the
biggest problems with them is that they try and attract too many
RPGamers by trying to appeal to the traditional side. They try to
create a game with the best of both worlds, and I think that by doing
that, they ruin the true appeal of an online experience. Too many
games lately have made it to where you hardly interact with anyone
unless you choose to, and try to deliver a traditional experience by
letting each player go through story elements on their own, like each
player is going through the story separately despite being in the same
world as thousands of others. This isn't going to please anyone.

I do, however, hoped that I've at least shown some of you why there
are so many people playing these MMORPGs. There is a completely
different appeal with completely different kinds of rewards for their
players. They are not glorified graphical chat rooms. They are not
stupid because they don't play like Final Fantasy VIII. They are a
completely different beast, and if you don't like them, that's
fine. Go play something else, and let those who do enjoy them do just
that, enjoy them. Now, hopefully, you know why they do.